//you can't just let bits of your own country leave because they are not currently useful - the state has a duty to them.//
//You can't just cast off the expensive bits because they are not currently productive.//
No you can’t. But equally you cannot expect the currently productive parts to subside the less productive parts in order that they may provide goods and services that the more productive parts do not have provided for them. That is what is happening here. In being given control (and cash) to run their own services there has been a wide disparity in what is provided to whom. I’ve no objection to Scotland receiving a little more cash per head because of its geography. But I resent being told that as a result of this munificence the English must pay for (say) their prescriptions whilst the smaller nations do not.
//The union should not be treated a project of English dominance/imperialism over the smaller countries//
It isn’t. The UK budget is used to support parts of England differently depending on their current circumstances. But the payoff is that all of England complies with the policies laid down by the UK government. If there was ever a case for independence it would be for London and the South East – far and away the most productive area in the entire UK. People there do not mind the tax they pay being used to support parts of the UK differently and there is no widespread call for that area to gain independence. But when taxpayers in the South East see vast sums of their money ferried up the M6 each night to pay for free university places when their children have to pay £9k a year (and are not eligible for free tuition should they attend a Scottish university) you can understand them getting the hump when the Scots bleat on about how they are suffering “English dominance and Imperialism.” I don’t know of two many Imperialist ventures in history where those occupied were dominated by being showered with money and gifts.
//Blair could not possibly have foreseen how quickly the tables would turn; if he had he might have thought twice.//
But he should have, jd. It was blindingly obvious what would happen. The same thing has happened in Ireland following his “Good Friday Agreement.” So sacrosanct has this become that the UK has, de facto, been split as far as trade is concerned. “A border in Ireland is unthinkable, so we’ll have one in the UK instead.” An absolutely preposterous state of affairs where UK companies have to complete customs formalities to shift stuff from one part of the UK to another.
I believe the smaller UK nations are now more trouble than they are worth and the referendums I suggest should be held. In fact, as far as Ireland is concerned, there should be an additional condition and that is that either NI leaves the UK or they choose to remain. If they choose the latter the border on the island is reinstated. There’s far too much fannying around going on.